Dispensing machine



y 10, 1951 s. BERGMAN DISPENSING MACHINE Filed Oct. 22, 19

mmewrok Patented July 10, 1951 FFICE DISPENSING MACHINE Sam Bergman, New Orleans, La.

Application October 22, 1945,. Serial No. 623,645

2 Claims.

This invention has for its primary object to provide a simple, inexpensive, and eflicient means for dispensing, one at a time, relatively elongated articles such as tongue depressors, ice cream spoons, applicators, syringes, knives, etc.

The device is particularly adapted for use with articles which are to be sterilized and then maintained in sterile condition until needed.

A special object of the invention is to furnish a reliable dispensing device for articles of wood or similar material subject to warping or bendmg.

In the drawings showing a preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration, Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through a device showing an ejector in position to withdraw a wooden tongue depressor from the bottom of a pile; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal horizontal section taken in the plane indicated by the line IIII in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse central vertical section looking toward the rear in the plane indicated by the line III-III in Fig. 1;. Fig. 4. is a front elevation of the case; Fig. is a rear elevation with a part in section looking toward the front from the line V--V of Fig. 1 and Fig. 6 is a fragmentary rear elevation with parts broken away showing onev form of. supporting base or bracket for the casing.

The device is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as a narrow, rectangular box or casing, preferably of sheet metal or of other material capable of'withstanding. the action of heat and steam during sterilization of articles held within the chamber l. The bottom 2 of the chamber preferably has its front portion inclined upward to an outlet opening 3 formed as a slot in the front wall 4 of the chamber This opening will be made of sufiicient width and height to permit easy passage of the article 5 intended to be dispensed,

and the lower edge of the opening will be flush with, or slightly lower than the upper surface of the front end of the inclined portion of the floor 2 of the chamber, so that it will not interfere with the free delivery of the article 5. A 010- sure 6 with a spring hinge serves to protect the opening when it is in the solid line position shown in Fig. 1, and when it swings outward to the broken line position, permits sliding movement of the article 5 to the broken line position.

The articles to be dispensed are placed in a pile or stack superposed one upon another within the chamber I which is somewhat longer than the articles. For convenience, these will normally be assembled in a cartridge for easy loading of the device.

When the rear door l is swung inward on its hinges 8, a central fin or flange 9 extending into the chamber, will engage the rear ends of the articles to keep them spaced a little distance from the door. Beneath the lower rear portion of the pile is a sliding ejector, preferably constructed as a spring leaf curved upwardly to- Ward the rear door and having at its rear end or edge, upstanding lips I l of slightly less height than the thickness of the rear end of the articles 5-. A space or notch [2 between the lips I! permits the ejector to be slid to the rear far enough to carry the lips well past the rear end of the lowermost article in the pile before the fin 9 prevents any further movement.

Anoperating rod is beneath the floor 2 passes through an opening [4 in the front wall d and through a similar opening in a bracket [5 carried'by the bottom member it of the casing. The front end of the rod is shown as curved'downward to form a handle I! and as having a stop it and a gasket I9 engaging the wall 1;. At the rear end of the rod, a stop 20 acts by engagement with the bracket [5 to limit the forward sliding movement of the rod. A helical spring 2| surrounds the rod, extending from the wall 4 to a supporting member 22 which is secured to the rod between the bracket I5 and the wall l. At its top, the member 22 is secured to the spring leaf in: which serves as the ejector, a slot 23 being provided in the floor '2 to permit forward and rearward movement of the member 22'. It will be noted that the slot is covered by the ejector during this movement. The spring 2! allows the rod to be pulled forward by the handle it, the rod carrying the ejector and the lowermost artiole engaged by the lips I], until the stop 2% engages the bracket I5, and then the pressure of the spring against the member 22 acts to return it toward the bracket :5 until the gasket ill engages the wall 4 after the release of the handle l1.

As the lowermost article 5 is pulled forward, its front end engages the closure 6 to push it open, uncovering the slot, the extent of movement of the rod permitted by the stops being such that the forward end of the article will emerge from the slot far enough to be grasped readily by the fingers of the operator for complete withdrawal at his convenience. The door 6 is shown as hinged below the slot and thus the pressure of the spring acts to lift the outer portion of the article against the upper edge of the slot and to swing the article on this edge to press the rear edge or end of the article more securely into contact with the lips ll until completion of the forward movement. When the article is withdrawn completely, the spring causes the door 6 to close against a suitable gasket 24 to seal the opening tight.

Difiiculty has been experienced in dispensing wooden articles because warpin or curving of the wood both longitudinally and transversely occurs so frequently. When a Warped article is placed upon an unyielding flat surface, the central portion may hold either the front end or the rear end or both so far out of their proper place that an ejector might not come into effective engagement at the rear, or the front might jam against the top or side of the discharge opening.

By forming the front portion of the floor as an upwardly inclined plane and by having the ejector member upwardly inclined at the rear, with the inclinations greater than the highest amount of warping encountered in commercially available wooden depressors, the front and rear ends will both lie in engagement with the surface supporting them during their sliding movement, so that any warping will not affect the operative positioning of the ends. The floor between the points of contact of the ends will not engage the central portion of the article to move the ends away from their proper locations. It will be evident that this result can be accomplished if either the floor or the ejector top is horizontal and the other sufficiently inclined so that only the ends of the article will be in contact with floor and the ejector member.

The whole assembly can be sterilized after the articles have been placed within the chamber and the articles will remain sterile until the last one is withdrawn. A colored article set near the top of the stack may be used as a warning to indicate the desirability of replenishing the holder whenever the colored article has reached the position to be dispensed.

While the door 1 is shown as at the rear, it is evident that a side door could be used if desired without change in any other feature. The fin 9 would still be used on the rear Wall to function in the same way as in the structure illustrated.

The casing illustrated may be used with a suitable base such as the bent sheet metal member 25 shown in Fig. 6, or if a wall bracket is preferred, the casing may be made detachable from the bracket for purposes of sterilization.

The structures shown and described are evidently merely illustrative of the invention and many changes in details of structure and arrangement may be made without departure from what is claimed.

I claim:

1. A dispensing machine having a chamber to receive a stack of superposed elongated articles, said chamber being formed with a discharge opening in line with the front end of the lowermost of said articles, the chamber having an upwardly inclined bottom plate acting as a front support for engagement with the lower surface of said lowermost article at its front end only, a rear support for the lower surface of the rear end only of said article, the two supports acting to hold the central portion of the lower surface of the article free from contact with any other supporting member, and means including the rear-support to cause forward movement of said article to project its front end outward at the discharge opening.

2. In a dispensing machine, a chamber adapted to receive a stack of elongated articles, said chamber being formed with a discharge opening through which the front ends of the articles are ejected one at a time, the chamber having a bottom plate inclined upwardly toward the discharge opening and along which the front end of the article can slide to the discharge opening, a slidable ejector having its rear end upwardly inclined to engage the rear end of the lowermost article of the stack for ejecting the front end of the article through the opening and for maintaining the central portion of the article out of contact with the central portion of the bottom of the chamber.

SAM BERGMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,165,034 Stocking Dec. 21, 1915 1,170,705 Swift Feb. 8, 1916 1,248,422 Ash Nov. 27, 1917 1,367,678 Abbott Felo 8, 1921 1,477,501 Kennan Dec. 11, 1923 1,713,748 Dimitrakis May 21, 1929 1,913,843 Marcuse June 13, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,853 Great Britain of 1868 

